34 August 2021
"We anticipated seeing about 15,000 to 18,000 patients a year
in our ER," Dr. Wells said. "We've blown that out of the water at
40,000-plus."
ey were able to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to almost
10,000 people, opting to use color-coded cards to keep people from
standing in long lines for the vaccine.
"I didn't want people standing out in the elements," Dr. Wells
said. "It was January and February, and we were vaccinating senior
citizens. I didn't want them standing in line. I think it went really
well."
Wells, a native of small-town Fayette, Alabama, helped open the
hospital in 2015, then took over full-time as president in 2019. Her
husband's career as a preacher had originally brought the couple to
North Carolina, where she earned a degree from Fayetteville State in
biology, then enrolled in East Carolina University's Brody School of
Medicine.
"And then, in my third year of med school, I had a baby," she said.
at baby is now a second-year law student.
e administrative side of medicine clicked with Wells.
"You know, I used to think that healthcare was my passion,"
she said. "But then I determined that people are my passion, and
Roxie Wells, M.D., president of Cape Fear Valley Hoke,
helped open the hospital in 2015, then took over full-time
as president in 2019.
